Deram Records was a subsidiary record label of Decca Records established in the United Kingdom in 1966. At the time, U.K. Decca was a different company from the Decca label in the United States, which was owned by MCA Inc. Deram recordings were distributed in the U.S. through UK Decca's American branch known as London Records. Deram was active until 1979, then continued as a reissue label.

History

1966–1968

In the 1960s, Decca recording engineers experimented with ways of improving stereo recordings. They created a technique they named "Decca Panoramic Sound." The term "Deramic" was created as abbreviation of this. The new concept "allowed for more space between instruments, rendering these sounds softer to the ear." Early stereo recordings of popular music usually were mixed with sounds to the hard left, centre, or hard right only. This was because of the technical limitations of the professional 4-track reel-to-reel recorders, which were considered state of the art until 1967.

Decca initially conceived Deram Records as an outlet for Deramic Sound recordings of contemporary pop and rock music, however, not all of the early recordings on Deram used this technique. 'Deramic Sound' was intended to create recordings that had a more natural stereo spread. The basic difference was that, instead of overdubbing and mixing four individual (mono) tracks from a four-track recorder, the Decca recording engineers used a pair of four-track machines to layer multiple two-channel (stereo) recordings. This new concept, with additional tracks, permitted the engineer to place instruments more easily in any position within the stereo field.

To launch the 'Deramic Sound' concept, Deram issued a series of six easy listening orchestral pop albums in October 1967. The albums all included the word Night in the title, i.e. Strings in the Night, Brass in the Night, etc. Artists in this series included Gordon Franks, Peter Knight, and Tony Osborne. The label was soon reinvented as a rival to early pre-punk 'indie' record companies like Island Records and moulded into a home for 'progressive' or 'psychedelic' artists. Among the first recordings in this series was the November 1967 album release Days of Future Passed by the Moody Blues, while Crocheted Doughnut Ring and Beverley Martyn were also signed to the label around this time.

Professional eight-track recorders began to appear in many British studios starting with Advision Studios and Trident Studios in early 1968. The eight-track machines were far more flexible than the dual four-track recorder setup. By 1969, Decca had obtained its own eight-track recorder. Since Decca engineers no longer had more tracks than other major studios, the 'Deramic Sound' concept quickly became outdated and was dropped.

1969–1982

The roster later included British jazz and folk. Some of the more progressive jazz musicians of the late 1960s were released under the Deram imprint, including Mike Gibbs, John Surman, and Mike Westbrook. Deram albums bore a DML prefix for mono and an SML prefix for stereo releases. As with other UK Decca subsidiary labels, Deram's U.S. counterpart was distributed under London Records. Decca positioned it against Island Records, Harvest Records (started by EMI), and Vertigo Records (started by Philips Records), but it failed to compete. An 'extra' progressive series with SDL prefixes did not improve the situation.

From the start, Decca placed pop records next to progressive artists on Deram. Cat Stevens found early success there before moving to Island Records, and David Bowie's first album appeared on the label.

Even though the label name was briefly used in the early 1980s for records by Bananarama, the Mo-dettes, and Splodgenessabounds,

Discography (singles)

1966

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;"

! style="background:LightBlue; color:Black; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; width:10%;"| Month

! style="background:LightBlue; color:Black; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; width:3%;"| Cat.<br />No.

! style="background:LightBlue; color:Black; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; width:20%;"| Artist

! style="background:LightBlue; color:Black; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; width:45%;"| Title

! style="background:LightBlue; color:Black; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; width:15%;"| Notes

|-

|rowspan="2"|September

|101

|Beverley

|"Happy New Year"/"Where the Good Times Are"

|

|-

|102

|Cat Stevens

|"I Love My Dog"/"Portobello Road"

|No. 28

|-

|rowspan="2"|October

|103

|The Gibsons

|"Two Kinds of Lovers"/"Hey Girl"

|

|-

|104

|Barry Mason

|"Over the Hills and Far Away"/"Collection of Recollections"

|

|-

|rowspan="2"|November

|105

|The Truth

|"Jingle Jangle"/"Hey Gyp"

|

|-

|106

|The Eyes of Blue

|"Up and Down"/"Heart Trouble"

|

|-

|rowspan="4"|December

|107

|David Bowie

|"Rubber Band"/"The London Boys"

|

|-

|108

|Chim Kothari

|"Sitar 'n' Spice"/"Indian Bat"

|

|-

|109

|The Move

|"Night of Fear"/"Disturbance"

|No. 2

|-

|110

|Cat Stevens

|"Matthew and Son"/"Granny"

|No. 2

|-

|113

|West Coast Delegation

|"Reach the Top"/"Mister Personality"

|

|-

|114

|The Eyes of Blue

|"Supermarket Full of Cans"/"Don't Ask Me To Mend Your Broken Heart"

|

|-

|rowspan = "5"|March

|115

|Double Feature

|"Baby Get Your Head Screwed On"/"Come on Baby"

|

|-

|116

|Sir Alec and His Boys

|"I'm a Believer"/"Green Green Grass of Home"

|

|-

|117

|The Move

|"I Can Hear the Grass Grow"/"Wave the Flag and Stop the Train"

|No. 5

|-

|127

|The Wards of Court

|"All Night Girl"/"How Could You Say One Thing"

|

|-

|rowspan = "6"|June

|128

|Les Reed Orchestra

|"Imogene"/"The Pay Off 28"

|

|-

|129

|Whistling Jack Smith

|"Hey There Little Miss Mary"/"I Was Bizet's Carmen"

|

|-

|130

|The Syn

|"Created By Clive"/"Grounded"

|

|-

|131

|Honeybus

|"Delighted to See You"/"The Breaking Up Scene"

|

|-

|132

|Robb and Dean Douglas

|"I Can Make It With You"/"'Phone Me"

|

|-

|133

|Jon Gunn

|"I Just Made Up My Mind"/"Now It's My Turn"

|

|-

|rowspan = "7"|July

|134

|Rubber Bootz

|"Joy Ride"/"Chicano"

|

|-

|135

|David Bowie

|"Love You Till Tuesday"/"Did You Ever Have a Dream?"

|

|-

|136

|Amen Corner

|"Gin House Blues"/"I Know"

|No. 12

|-

|137

|Beverley/D. Cordell Teatime Ensemble

|"Museum"/"A Quick One for Sanity"

|

|-

|138

|Richard Kerr

|"Happy Birthday Blues"/"Mother's Blue-Eyed Angel"

|

|-

|139

|The Quik

|"King of the World"/"My Girl"

|

|-

|140

|Cat Stevens

|"A Bad Night"/"The Laughing Apple"

|No. 20

|-

|143

|Bill Fay

|"Some Good Advice"/"Screams in the Ears"

|

|-

|144

|The Cuppa T

|"Miss Pinkerton"/"Brand New World"

|

|-

|rowspan = "7"|September

|141

|Martin's Magic Sounds

|"Mon Amour, Mon Amour"/"Midem Melody"

|

|-

|145

|The Syn

|"Flowerman"/"14 Hour Technicolour Dream"

|

|-

|146

|The Virgin Sleep

|"Love"/"Halliford House"

|

|-

|147

|John Street & The Inmates of Number 12

|"Keep a Little Love"/"My Kind of Luck"

|

|-

|148

|Robb & Dean Douglas

|"Rose Growing in the Ruins"/"Gentle People"

|

|-

|150

|The 23rd Turnoff

|"Michael Angelo"/"Leave Me Here"

|

|-

|151

|Amen Corner

|"The World of Broken Hearts"/"Nema"

|No. 26

|-

|162

|The Societie

|"Bird Has Flown"/"Breaking Down"

|

|-

|163

|Danny Williams

|"Love Me"/"When You Were Mine"

|

|-

|rowspan = "8"|December

|156

|Cat Stevens

|"Kitty"/"Blackness of the Night"

|No. 47

|-

|rowspan = "3"|April

|183

|The Flower Pot Men

|"Man Without A Woman"/"You Can Never Be Wrong"

|

|-

|184

|Granny's Intentions

|"Julie Don't Love Me Anymore"/"One Time Lovers"

|

|-

|185

|The Cuppa T

|"Streatham Hippodrome"/"One Man Band"

|

|-

|rowspan = "7"|May

|186

|Focal Point

|"Love You Forever"/"Sycamore Sid"

|

|-

|187

|World of Oz

|"The Muffin Man"/"Peter's Birthday"

|

|-

|190

|Cats Eyes

|"Smile Girl for Me"/"In a Fantasy World"

|

|-

|191

|

|

|not issued

|-

|192

|Tony Osborne & His Three Brass Buttons

|"Sunspot"/"Cornflake"

|

|-

|193

|Roberto Mann & His Orchestra

|"Wonderful One"/"Moon Love"

|

|-

|194

|Timebox

|"Beggin'"/"A Woman That's Waiting"

|No. 38

|-

|rowspan = "4"|June

|188

|Giles, Giles and Fripp

|"One in a Million"/"Newly Weds"

|

|-

|189

|Whistling Jack Smith

|"Only When I Larf"/"Early One Morning"

|

|-

|195

|The Flirtations

|"Someone Out There"/"How Can You Tell Me?"

|

|-

|196

|The Moody Blues

|"Voices in the Sky"/"Dr. Livingstone, I Presume"

|No. 27

|-

|226

|The Youth

|"Meadow of My Love"/"Love Me or Leave Me"

|

|-

|227

|Denny Laine

|"Say You Don't Mind"/"Ask the People"

|

|-

|228

|Amen Corner

|"The World of Broken Hearts"/"Gin House Blues"

|

|-

|229

|

|

|not issued

|-

|230

|Roberto Mann Orchestra & Chorus

|"Albatross"/"My Magic Dream"

|

|-

|rowspan = "11"|February

|231

|U.K. Jones

|"Let Me Tell Ya"/"And the Rains Came Down"

|

|-

|232

|Grisby Dyke

|"The Adventures of Miss Rosemary La Page"/"Mary Ann She"

|

|-

|233

|World of Oz

|"Willow's Harp"/"Like a Tear"

|

|-

|234

|Mike Westbrook

|"A Life of Its Own"/"Can't Get It Out of My Mind"

|

|-

|235

|Donnie Elbert

|"Without You"/"Baby Please Come Home"

|

|-

|236

|rowspan= "6"|Raymonde's Magic Organ

|"Yellow Submarine"/"Winchester Cathedral"

|

|-

|237

|"Blue"/"Brown Eyes"

|

|-

|238

|"Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone"/"You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby"

|

|-

|239

|"Oh! Johnny, Oh! Johnny, Oh!"/"Heartaches"

|

|-

|240

|"Cry"/"Tennessee Waltz"

|

|-

|241

|"These Boots Are Made for Walking"/"Green Green Grass of Home"

|

|-

|rowspan = "6"|March

|242

|East of Eden

|"Northern Hemisphere"/"Communion"

|

|-

|243

|Touch

|"Miss Teach"/"We Feel Fine"

|

|-

|244

|Les Reed/Les Reed Orchestra

|"Don't Linger With Your Finger on the Trigger"/"Big Drum"

|

|-

|245

|Kenny Everett

|"Nice Time"/"And Now for a Little Train Number"

|

|-

|246

|Timebox

|"Baked Jam Roll in Your Eye"/"Poor Little Heartbreaker"

|

|-

|248

|The Flower Pot Men

|"In A Moment of Madness"/"Young Birds Fly"

|

|-

|rowspan = "5"|April

|247

|The Moody Blues

|"Never Comes the Day"/"So Deep Within You"

|

|-

|249

|Roberto Mann Orchestra & Chorus

|Theme from the Film Baby Love / "Serenade to Summer"

|

|-

|250

|Keef Hartley

|"Leave It 'Til the Morning"/"Just to Cry"

|

|-

|251

|Cats Eyes

|"Where Is She Now?"/"Tom Drum"

|

|-

|252

|The Flirtations

|"What's Good About Goodbye My Love?"/"Once I Had a Love"

|

|-

|rowspan = "4"|May

|253

|The Web

|"Monday to Friday"/"Harold Dubbleyew"

|

|-

|254

|Honeybus

|"She Sold Blackpool Rock"/"Would You Believe"

|

|-

|255

|

|

|not issued

|-

|256

|John Cameron Quartet

|"Trouble Maker"/"Off Centre"

|

|-

|rowspan = "8"|June

|257

|The Shepperton Flames

|"Take Me for What I Am"/"Goodbye"

|

|-

|258

|The March Hare

|"Have We Got News For You"/"I Could Make It There With You"

|

|-

|259

|The Alan Bown Set

|"Still As Stone"/"Wrong Idea"

|

|-

|260

|Cat Stevens

|"Where Are You"/"The View from the Top"

|

|-

|261

|Tam White

|"That Old Sweet Roll"/"Don't Make Promises"

|

|-

|262

|Neil MacArthur

|"Don't Try to Explain"/"Without Her"

|

|-

|263

|Alan Price

|"The Trimdon Grange Explosion"/"Falling in Love Again"

|

|-

|264

|The Fantastics

|"Face to Face with Heartache"/"This Must Be My Rainy Day"

|

|-

|rowspan = "2"|July

|265

|R.J. Hightower

|"God Is Love"/"Sister Mimi"

|

|-

|266

|Johnny Almond Music Machine

|"Solar Level"/"To R.K."

|

|-

|rowspan = "2"|August

|268

|Love Children

|"Easy Squeezy"/"Every Little Step"

|

|-

|269

|Egg

|"Seven Is a Jolly Good Time"/"You Are All Princes"

|

|-

|rowspan = "3"|September

|267

|Garden Odyssey Enterprise

|"Sad and Lonely"/"Sky Pilot"

|

|-

|270

|Bulldog Breed

|"Portcullis Gate"/"Halo in My Hair"

|

|-

|272

|The Incrowd

|"Where in the World"/"I Can Make Love to You"

|

|-

|rowspan = "7"|October

|271

|Timebox

|"Yellow Van"/"You've Got the Chance"

|

|-

|273

|The Keef Hartley Band

|"Waiting Around"/"Not Foolish, Not Wise"

|

|-

|274

|Margo

|"The Spark That Lights the Flame"/"Left Over Love"

|

|-

|275

|Neil MacArthur

|"It's Not Easy"/"12.29"

|

|-

|276

|Brotherhood of Man

|"Love One Another"/"A Little Bit of Heaven"

|

|-

|277

|Kelly

|"Mary Mary"/"Reverend Richard Bailey"

|

|-

|278

|The Alan Bown Set

|"Gypsy Girl"/"All I Can"

|

|-

|November

|279

|Kathe Green

|"If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind"/"Primrose Hill"

|

|}

1970

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;"

! style="background:LightBlue; color:Black; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; width:10%;"| Month

! style="background:LightBlue; color:Black; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; width:3%;"| Cat.<br />No.

! style="background:LightBlue; color:Black; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; width:20%;"| Artist

! style="background:LightBlue; color:Black; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; width:45%;"| Title

! style="background:LightBlue; color:Black; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; width:15%;"| Notes

|-

|rowspan = "5"|January

|280

|White Plains

|"My Baby Loves Lovin'"/"Show Me Your Hand"

|No. 9

|-

|281

|The Flirtations

|"Keep on Searching"/"Moma I'm Coming Home"

|

|-

|282

|Music Motor

|"Happy"/"Where Am I Going?"

|

|-

|283

|The Fantastics

|"Waiting Round for Heartaches"/"Ask the Lonely"

|

|-

|284

|Brotherhood of Man

|"United We Stand"/"Say a Prayer"

|No. 10

|-

|rowspan = "4"|February

|285

|John L. Watson

|"A Mother's Love"/"Might As Well Be Gone"

|

|-

|286

|Mike Westbrook Concert Band

|"Hooray"/"Requiem"

|

|-

|287

|The Naked Truth

|"Two Little Rooms"/"Rag Doll Boy"

|

|-

|288

|Frijid Pink

|"The House of the Rising Sun"/"Drivin' Blues"

|No. 4

|-

|rowspan = "2"|March

|289

|Honeybus

|"Story"/"The Night to Choose"

|

|-

|290

|Bill Nile & His Goodtime Band

|"I Try Not to Laugh"/"Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen"

|

|-

|rowspan = "3"|April

|291

|White Plains

|"I've Got You on My Mind"/"Today I Killed a Man I Didn't Know"

|No. 17

|-

|rowspan = "5"|June

|298

|Brotherhood of Man

|"Where Are You Going to My Love?"/"Living in the Land of Love"

|No. 22

|-

|299

|Ten Years After

|"Love Like a Man" (studio)/"Love Like a Man" (live)

|No. 10

|-

|300 301 302

|

|

|not issued

|-

|303

|Love Children

|"Paper Chase"/"My Turkey Snuffed It"

|

|-

|304

|Pacific Drift

|"Water Woman"/"Yes You Do"

|

|-

|rowspan = "5"|July

|305

|Pebbles

|"Stand Up and Be Counted"/"May in the Morning"

|

|-

|306

|Galliard

|"I Wrapped Her in Ribbons"/"Hermit and the Knight"

|

|-

|307

|Tontine

|"A Strange Way to Love"/"I Don't Look Back"

|

|-

|309

|Frijid Pink

|"Sing a Song of Freedom"/"End of the Line"

|

|-

|310

|Ten Years After

|"Love Like a Man" (studio)/"Love Like a Man" (live)

|Reissue of DMS 299

|-

|rowspan = "4"|August

|308

|Walrus

|"Who Can I Trust?"/"Tomorrow Never Comes"

|

|-

|311

|Mike Westbrook Concert Orchestra with Norma Winstone

|"Original Peter"/"Magic Garden"

|

|-

|312

|White Plains

|"Lovin' You Baby"/"Noises in My Head"

|

|-

|313

|Someone's Band

|"A Story"/"Give It to You"

|

|-

|rowspan = "2"|October

|314

|Mucky Duck

|"Jefferson"/"Psycho's on the Run"

|

|-

|315

|White Plains with Pete Nelson

|"Julie Do Ya Love Me"/"I Need Your Everlasting Love"

|No. 8

|-

|rowspan = "5"|October

|365

|White Plains

|"Dad You Saved The World"/"Beachcomber"

|

|-

|366

|Brotherhood of Man

|"Rock Me Baby"/"Hang On"

| unreleased

|-

|367

|Hoagy Pogey

|"Don't Ya Know"/"Why Don't You Go Away"

|

|-

|368

|Pussy

|"Feline Woman"/"Ska Child"

|

|-

|369

|

|

|not issued

|}

1973

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;"

! style="background:LightBlue; color:Black; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; width:10%;"| Month

! style="background:LightBlue; color:Black; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; width:3%;"| Cat.<br />No.

! style="background:LightBlue; color:Black; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; width:20%;"| Artist

! style="background:LightBlue; color:Black; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; width:45%;"| Title

! style="background:LightBlue; color:Black; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; width:15%;"| Notes

|-

|rowspan = "3"|January

|370

|Colin Areety

|"Holy Cow"/"I Can't Do It for You"

|

|-

|371

|White Plains

|"Step into a Dream"/"Look to See"

|No. 21

|-

|July

|DET R 1

|The Mo-dettes

|"Paint It Black"/"Bitta Truth"

|No. 42

|-

|August

|ROLF 1

|Splodgenessabounds

|"Two Little Boys"/"Horse"/"Sox"/"Butterfly"

|No. 26

|}

1981–1996

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;"

! style="background:LightBlue; color:Black; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; width:10%;"| Month/Year

! style="background:LightBlue; color:Black; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; width:3%;"| Cat.<br />No.

! style="background:LightBlue; color:Black; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; width:20%;"| Artist

! style="background:LightBlue; color:Black; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; width:45%;"| Title

! style="background:LightBlue; color:Black; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; width:15%;"| Notes

|-

|March 1981

|437

|B-Movie

|"Remembrance Day"/"Institution Walls"

|No. 61

|-

|April 1981

|DMDJ 440

|The Flatbackers

|"Serenade of Love"/"Try a Little Harder"

|promo only

|-

|July 1981

|444

|Jane Kennaway

|"Year 2000"/"On 84th Street"

|

|-

|April 1982

|NANA 1

|Bananarama and Fun Boy Three

|"Really Saying Something"/"Give US Back Our Cheap Fares"

|No. 5

|-

|November 1990

|KINKY 1

|Patrick Macnee & Honor Blackman

|"Kinky Boots"/"Let's Keep It Friendly"

|No. 5

|-

|1996

|INFLDJ 1

|Pete Moore/Roland Shaw & His Orchestra

|"Catwalk"/"Let the Love Come Through"

|promo only

|}

Notes

References

  • Deram Records from BSN Pubs
  • A discography of American Deram singles
  • A discography of Canadian Deram releases